One of the arguments against human expansion into outer space is that we will instead retreat into virtual worlds as the technology evolves. I think it’s an interesting technological race.
5 thoughts on “The Holodeck”
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One of the arguments against human expansion into outer space is that we will instead retreat into virtual worlds as the technology evolves. I think it’s an interesting technological race.
Comments are closed.
Given that Moore’s Law is still holding up pretty well and we’re still stuck on energy utilization, I’m pretty sure the virtuality wins in the medium run. But if information is king, and you can haul your virtual world wherever you want to go physically, I’d think that there’d be a pretty big premium on taking leisurely journeys to other stars just to see what’s there, and selling the answer back to the solar system. (It obviously helps if you can simulate the human as well as the environment…)
Virtuality does a nice job of resolving the Fermi Paradox, though. Of course, really small spacecraft filled with virtual beings does a pretty good job, too.
A little closer on the horizon is the Oculus Rift device combined with an omnidirectional treadmill currently being worked on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy-kUiZ4QjI
Apparently NASA is doing some work with these devices:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyqjmrPrJ8s
This is a post where a person is tempted to talk up a holodeck story contest to see who can write the most bizzare holodeck story, similar to the Bulwer-Lytton fiction contest, but with bad writing replaced by spontaneous oddness.
It sounds like all of the technology in that article is still focusing on “Parlour Wall” devices, rather than “Holodeck” systems. To wit, the discussion about computer-drive wallpaper and the fact that everything is still just a projector on a screen. Holodecks get their names from holograms, of course, otherwise they would be called “Projectodecks”.
Unfortunately, if technology goes the direction “Parlour Wall”, I reluctantly agree with the sentiment that it could turn us into shut-ins and such. Fahrenheit 451 and WALL-E, anyone?